The Best Everyday Drugstore Makeup Products

Hello, hello! And welcome back to my blog. If you’re new here, welcome, friend! I recently posted some stories/polls on my Instagram talking about some of my ideas and motivations behind this blog. You guys are awesome, and I had lots of sweet encouraging replies.

I asked whether I should include beauty posts like this one, although they’re out of the realm of faith/inspiration that I usually post. So many of y’all said just go for it, which was nice to hear. I don’t like sticking to one ‘niche’, and I’m glad my readers enjoy that from me!

Because I have so so many freckles, very oily skin, and pretty constant mild-medium acne (although, freckles have not always been my favorite, they help conceal mild acne which is nice), I’ve never been a fan of full-coverage products, or really any foundations at all, because they simply do not work as ‘full’ coverage on my skin, so what’s the point?

However, between my makeup-guru-roommate and some formal sorority events, I dedicated myself to finding a foundation I actually liked this year! The foundation and concealer I’m talking about today are relatively new to me, but many of these eye products I’ve been wearing since I started wearing makeup!

I hope these products give you some extra makeup-inspo, or help you find affordable products to try instead of products you’re not currently loving (which was my issue for so long!). I’ve also tried-and-loved some of these products recommended from fellow bloggers as well 🙂

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1. NYX Setting Spray

This might be my longest-love! Setting spray would never have been on my makeup-radar if it wasn’t for my dance team (freshman year of high school). I’ve been using the same bottle of NYX matte setting spray since that year, so me & it are now 6 years strong (which is more than I can say for more of my friendships).

I’ve never tried another setting spray (because I honestly don’t see the need to), but this stuff pretty much makes your makeup waterproof-and-also-indestructible. I distinctly imagine one Friday night football game performance, where it was raining, and I was also sweating from the lights, heat, and thick uniform. While I was dancing, I remember thinking, “okay, yeah, I can definitely feel my makeup and beautiful-sparkly-gray-smoky-eye dripping down my face…” But no, that makeup was still on by the end of the night.

You can’t go wrong with this product.

2. Maybelline Volume Rocket Mascara

Coming in second, for my longest-makeup-friendship, is this guy. Believe it or not, I wore waterproof mascara every day for the majority of high school. I don’t really know why, since that comes as such a shock to people when I say it. That’s just what I did!

It worked for me and my mascara always looked perfect. Currently, I keep 2 tubes of this guy (one in waterproof, one in regular) at all times, and I’ve bought-and-re-bought this mascara more than any other.

The rubber brush prevents clumping, works well on my lower lashes, and isn’t too big for my eyes, which is a common problem for me with other mascaras.

3. Elf Makeup Brushes

This isn’t one product in particular because I use multiple Elf brushes on the reg. My all-time favorite is the angled eyeliner brush, which I use to apply my MAC fluid-line eyeliner (which isn’t drugstore, but I’ve also been using since high school!).

Elf brush prices cannot be beat (I just picked up two from Target for $1 each!) and they have a great variety as well.

4. Maybelline Fit Me! Matte Foundation

I originally tried this foundation for formal recruitment last fall from recommendation of my roommate. I had a spray tan for recruitment, so I bought the shade 220 ‘Natural Beige’, which ended up being a perfect match, and blended well to my skin tone. Click here to read my post form recruitment, and to see my makeup from that week! I used an Elf primer that week, but this foundation is great for all-day wear, with or without a primer.

It too me two tries to match my everyday foundation shade, but 105 ‘Fair Ivory’ is my usual color!

5. Maybelline Fit Me! Concealer

Like foundation, I didn’t have a concealer I liked for the longest time. I didn’t really see how you could ‘like’ a concealer. To me, it just was what it was! I’ve only used a few different concealers over time, but I actually like this concealer compared to ones I’ve used before.

This concealer has fuller coverage, stays on, and blends well even on days when I don’t wear other face makeup.

6. Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream

I don’t consider myself an explicit Maybelline fan, so I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or quality that so many of their products are my favorites. I tend to gravitate towards Maybelline and Neutrogena when drugstore makeup shopping, because of my luck with Maybelline (and my favorite mascara) and for Neutrogena’s skin-friendly products.

I remember talking about this BB cream in one of my YouTube videos… oh, yes, that was very much a thing in high school. I tried to be a makeup-lifestyle YouTuber my sophomore year! I enjoyed it, but I didn’t last long. That was the beginning of my journey to becoming a blogger!

BB cream is a great alternative if you don’t like wearing a full foundation like me! And, this has SPF built in, which is an added bonus, especially since I’m super freckle-prone.

7. Elf Little Black Book Eye Shadow

Oh, man. This might be my best find ever. I think I originally purchased this because I needed specific shades for dance team (and the team makeup focused around Elf products, which was awesome for getting me into affordable products early on), and I ended up buying another version of this ‘book’ which is no longer available, but I still use to this day!

It’s kind of embarrassing and maybe gross that I’ve been using the same $10 eyeshadow palette for that long… but it shades just as well as expensive palettes and has way more colors than typical palettes. I’ve cleaned it multiple times with rubbing alcohol, and this little book hasn’t let me down.

Honestly, I think using this palette has spoiled me from spending money on expensive palettes with like eight shades! I also like the Urban Decay Naked palette, but you simply cannot beat this price-quality-shade eye shadow combination.

8. NYX Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks

I learned of these liquid lipsticks from my sweet friend McKenzie from StyledbyMcKenz (give her blog some love!) and I love them! I have the shades ‘Ruffle Trim’ and ‘Bedtime Flirt’. I’ve seen this lipstick on so many different bloggers in a variety of shades, so it’s a well-loved affordable favorite!

I wasn’t huge on lipsticks/liquid lipsticks until recently, but these have become my go-to. I always get compliments on this lipstick when I wear it. It is on the drying side (but great with a little lip balm on top) and I do have to touch it up after eating, but I think it’s totally worthy of the price!

Shop the items mentioned in this post:

Like my previous post, this one ended up much longer than anticipated, but I hope you learned something new! Let me know in a comment below what your favorite longtime/affordable makeup products are!